Film & TV

The Loved Ones Film Review

Rating: MA 15+

Running Time: 80 minutes

Release Date: 4 November 2010

Check cinema guide for locations and session times

The Loved Ones is an Australian Horror film written and directed by Sean Byrne in his first feature.

Senior high school student Brent (Xavier Samuel), feels responsible for the death of his father in a car accident in which he was the driver, six months earlier.  Despite resorting to drugs and inflicting self-harm in order to escape his pain he is still the object of affection of wallflower, Lola Stone (Robin McLeavy).  Lola asks Brent to the school prom only to be turned down for his girlfriend Holly (Victoria Thaine).  Unrepentant Lola seeks her Daddy’s (John Brumpton) help to make sure she still has a date for prom night.

This is another representation of the horror torture subgenre, popularised by the Saw movie franchise amongst others.  However instead of being just another trite copycat, this film actually adds a refreshing new take on this genre.  Sean Byrne set out to make something unique in a father daughter sadist team pairing and he delivers.  It has all the hallmarks of being destined for cult status with a fine balance between horror and black comedy achieved.  The film is a mix of Misery andCarrie all the while channelling John Hughes whilst on set at Pretty in Pink.  And like all of Hughes’ films all those teen archetypes are represented, the silent stoner Brent; the wallflower Lola; the girl next door Holly; the geek (Richard Wilson as Jamie) and the Goth rebel (Jessica McNamee as Mia).   It starts out as the typical idealised teen flick and as you are lulled into a false sense of security the mayhem begins.

Xavier Samuel (2:37, Twilight Series: Eclipse) is brilliant as the silent protagonist, having to rely on his physical actions and various tonal screams to portray his emotional spectrum.  Robin McLeavy  is fantastic in her over the top childlike but hormonal fuelled villain and owns the screen as there are not many female contempories from which to make comparisons with.  Her performance is well supported by her father in crime John Brumpton (Underbelly) who kowtows to his daughter’s  every pink teen and “princess like”whim.

The music is used well as the film switches between the torture scenes and the dream come true prom night date.  The parallel stories serve well to provide a nice break from the relentless horror and helps convey the comic elements. The song Not Pretty Enough by Kasey Chambers is used to great effect and underscores the black humour element, so you can’t help but laugh at the wicked absurdity of it all if you can get past the first 20 minutes and stop resisting the movie.

No digital effects, it harks back to old school techniques with use of latex bodies and prosthetics, to realise the grisly violence.  Horror fans will love this film and they may even be a few converts to this genre if they can stomach the gore.

3.5/5 stars

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